"It's so hot, I don't feel like I have much of an appetite," Shang Yunmiao said, stretching her arms and lazily leaning on the table. She replied in a coquettish tone.
"Then let's eat something refreshing and cool. I saw that the shop that sells liangfen (cold mung bean jelly) near the school gate has recently started selling bingfen (iced jelly)."
"What is ice jelly?" Shang Yunmiao had tried jelly before. Adding vinegar made it sour, adding sauce made it oily and salty, and adding sesame paste made it too greasy. Anyway, she didn't really like it, especially now that it was so hot and she didn't have much of an appetite.
"Hmm... It's a snack that's recently become popular. I heard it originated in the Sichuan and Chongqing area. The texture is somewhat like jelly, and it contains things like cola syrup, barley, coconut jelly, and hawthorn pieces. The taste is sweet and sour, quite refreshing."
Upon hearing this, Shang Yunmiao's interest was piqued. She nodded in agreement with the proposal, and the two of them left the classroom together to find something to eat.
A dozen minutes later, after eating the ice jelly that Chen Bing had mentioned outside the school, Shang Yunmiao's face showed a look of surprise.
"Chen Bing, Chen Bing, this is delicious!"
"Of course, young lady, we use only the best ingredients at home." Before Chen Bing could reply, the shop owner, who was wiping the table and cleaning up, quickly answered.
Clearly, she was quite pleased with the compliment from a pretty young girl.
Xiao Shang was no longer the timid and shy child she used to be. With her rosy cheeks, she smiled and replied to the shopkeeper, "Auntie, where did you learn that?"
"Oh, my daughter tried this when she went on a business trip to Sichuan and Chongqing this year. She told me it was delicious and that students liked it, so she asked me to try making it in the store. I tried the one she sent and thought it was good too, so I learned how to make it online and practiced a bit. And so, this summer, I launched it."
The internet is so advanced now. You can find anything you want to learn. Unlike back in our day, those were all secret methods, passed down from generation to generation by our ancestors, and couldn't be shared with outsiders.
Chen Bing listened to her aunt's remark and felt it was a bit far-fetched. After all, it's 2019 already. Even if Auntie had started her business from birth, it couldn't be from the time when "her ancestors passed down their unique methods from generation to generation." That sounds like something from the Qing Dynasty.
Unable to hear Chen Bing's inner complaints, the proprietress then proceeded to explain to Shang Yunmiao how the ice jelly was made and what the tricks were. Shang Yunmiao, with her years of experience in making desserts, chatted amiably with the proprietress, and the two seemed quite happy for a while.
After chatting for a while, when Chen Bing had finished most of her ice jelly, the proprietress suddenly asked Shang Yunmiao, "Girl, what's your relationship with the handsome young man next to you?"
Chen Bing looked up in confusion, first glancing at the curious proprietress, then turning to look at Xiao Shang, wondering how he would answer.
After a brief moment of thought, Shang Yunmiao smiled and took Chen Bing's arm, saying, "He is my brother."
"Oh, I see. So these two kids are so pretty, and they eat together every day. They're siblings..."
“Yes…we’re not related by blood.” Before the proprietress could finish speaking, Shang Yunmiao added, then looked up at Chen Bing and smiled gently.
Seeing this, the proprietress turned her head and glanced around. Seeing that no one was around, she suddenly lowered her voice and asked, "Is that your boyfriend?"
"Um~ My brother and I grew up together, we lived right across from each other." At this point, Xiao Shang mischievously added, "It's that... arranged marriage."
A childhood betrothal? What a load of nonsense! How come I didn't know that?
Although she was inwardly complaining, Chen Bing was actually quite pleased with herself. She unconsciously raised her other hand, which wasn't being held by Xiao Shang, and placed it on Xiao Shang's head, creating a very intimate scene.
Seeing this, the aunt who makes delicious ice jelly didn't say anything more. She just thought it was pleasing to the eye to see two good-looking children together in such a pose.
As she looked at it, a smile of maternal affection unconsciously appeared on her face.
"Alright, alright, good children, you can eat, Auntie won't bother you anymore."
Humming a little tune, the woman left to go about her business.
After she left, Chen Bing lowered her head and whispered in Shang Yunmiao's ear, "How come I didn't know we were betrothed? Did Mom and the others secretly arrange it for us, and you found out by accident?"
Hearing Chen Bing's teasing, Xiao Shang gently patted his chest and replied, "Oh, what? I was just joking with Auntie. Is that a problem?" After saying that, she put on a wronged look.
"Alright, alright, that's fine. From now on, let's say that we were a match made in heaven in our past lives, but we died for each other because of the damned feudal ethics. Fortunately, the heavens took pity on us and reincarnated us as a match made in heaven with no blood relation. This childhood betrothal was arranged in our previous life, and the matchmaker was the will of heaven."
Shang Yunmiao realized that Chen Bing was imitating Jia Baoyu's way of speaking and making up stories from "The Story of the Stone" to tease her. She immediately patted the other person's shoulder twice in protest.
However, on second thought, the little girl had the idea of retorting by imitating Lin Daiyu's way of speaking. So she cleared her throat, coughed twice, and replied, "If brother is teasing his sister like this..."
"Here, here, Auntie will give you two more bottles of drinks, just taken out of the refrigerator. It's hot, take them and drink them on the way, okay?"
Poor Shang Yunmiao, in a moment of impulsiveness, almost had her mouth overheard as she was about to speak, and immediately shut it up, looking extremely ashamed.
Chen Bing then took on the responsibility and thanked the proprietress.
After the other person left, he turned around and mocked Shang Yunmiao, which made the little girl frown and scold him repeatedly.
After a relaxed and pleasant lunch, Shang Yunmiao suggested taking some ice jelly home for her mother and classmates to try. Chen Bing readily agreed, and after ordering a few more to go, they chatted with Shang Yunmiao while waiting. This time, their conversation was much more serious, focusing on the afternoon's exam and related knowledge points.
Making ice jelly doesn't take long. Before long, the proprietress handed Chen Bing several bags of packaged ice jelly.
Come visit often when you have time.
"Okay, goodbye Auntie." Shang Yunmiao greeted the proprietress politely, and then followed Chen Bing to leave.
Just then, as if remembering something, the proprietress suddenly called out from behind, "Oh, right, right, little girl, don't go yet, wait for Auntie."
To find out why the ice jelly lady called out to Xiao Shang, please stay tuned for the next installment.
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